Rear-dump vehicle



A. P. LEE.

REAR DUMP VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28.1920.

1,402,300, Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

2 SHEETS-'$HEET 1.

A. P. LEE.

REAR DUMP VEHICLE.

' APPLICATION HLED JULY 28, I920. v 1 ,4 O2,30(), v Patented Jan. 3, 1922,

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNlTELD STATES ALBERT 3?. LEE, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

ASSIGNOR TO LEE TRATLER AND BODY COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. I

REAR-DUMP VEHICLE.

Application filed July 28,

To oZZ whom it may concern. Be it known that I, ALBERT P. LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing atChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rear-Dump Vehicles, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,- forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to rear dump ve hicles and more particularly to vehicles provided with rear dump rolling hoppers, adapted to roll substantially automatically from charge receiving to discharge position. I

More particularly the invention relates to a rear dump rolling hopper that is adapted to completely empty itself of all the material contained therein no matter whether the same is dry or wet. This is particularly advantageous when the hopper is to be used for carrying concrete mixtures in either their dry condition or when the water is mixed therewith.

it is also a purpose of the invention to provide a dumping hopper that is so constructed that the same will roll automatically to discharge position, even though it is only partially filled. This is of particular advantage when the hopper is to be used for conveying a charge of concrete, or dry aggregate before water is added thereto and also after the water is added so as to make a wet 'mixture. It is customary in concrete work to measure the amount of concrete poured by the amount of dry aggregate used. Consequently it is desir-. able that a vehicle body carrying and adapted to dump automatically, for example, of a cubic yard or dry aggregate, be also adapted to carry and dump automatically l of a cubic yard of dry aggregate when mixed with water. The addition of the water causes a material shrinkage in the bulk of the mixture, and ordinarily this shrinkage is so great that the ordinary rolling hopper will not roll to discharge position automatically, due to the lowering of the center of gravity of the load. It is also impossible to fill the rolling hopper completely with the wet mixture, as the same would spill due to the motion of the vehicle, while the same is moving if so filled. The ordinary rolling hopper Will Specification of Letters Patent.

7 Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

1920. Serial No; 399,519.

not dump however if only partially filled. The hopper of the present invention is con structed to overcome these difiiculties, by providing a very wide flowing mouth for the same and by making the upper portion of much greater area than the base portion thereof.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hopper having no sharp corners or angles 011 the interior thereof, and havmg a long sloping end portion to prevent lodging of wet materials thereon when the hopper is dumped.

It is a further object of the invention to provide new and improved locking means for hoppers, which locking means will hold the hoppers in their normal load carrying positlon. and will also act as an actuating means to release the locking mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of the in vention will appear as the description of the accompanying drawings showing one form that my invention may take, proceeds. In showing only one form of the-invention I desire to have it understood that this is merely done for purposes of illustration and that I do not intend to limit myself to the exact details shown and described, but desire to include in my invention all modifications or changes that would suggest themselves to anyone skilled in the art and which would fall within the scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a portion of the vehicle showing the rear dump rolling hopper and the parts cooperating therewith;

Fig. 2 is a tranverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line -ll of Fig. 3, on an enlarged scale, and;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5 7 of Fig. 3, also on an enlarged scale.

Referring in detail to the drawings the invention comprises a pair of longitudinally extending supporting rails 6 preferably made in the form ofan I-beam and secured by means of any suitable securing devices, such as the U-bolts 7 and 7 to the vehicle framework 8. The rails 6 are provided with downwardly extending, portions 9 and pivot members 10 made in the form of hook shaped brackets are adapted'to cooperate with the down-' wardly inclined portions 9 -of.the-rails.--6 as the hopper 13 rolls toward the inclined portions and pivot pins 16 that are adapted to cooperate with the sockets 11 in the pivot members 10'to provide fora final pivotal dumping movement of tli'ei hopper. 13, the

pivot pins 16 being located at the junction of the straight rtions of the rails 14 and the curved portlons 15 thereof. The hopper 13 is provided with a short flat bottom portion 17, straight vertical side walls 18 and the front end wall 19 and rear end wall 20. The front end wall 19is inclined slightly from the vertical to flare outwardly slightly toward the top of the hopper, the end wall 19 being substantially straight from the top to the bottom thereof and joining the bottomportion of the hopper by means of a portion having a gradual curvature as shown at 21. The rear end wall 20 is inclined relatively to the bottom portion 17 at substantially an angle of 45 degrees so as to provide a long sloping rear end wall that provides a long over-hanging portion extending rearwardly beyond the short bottom portion or base portion 17. The rear end wall 20 is substantially straight from the top to the bottom thereof and joins the base portion 17 of the hopper by a portion 22 having a gradual curvature. It will thus be seen that a hopper isprovided having an interior that has nosharp corners and that has no pockets therein in which any loose material will lodge itself whenthe hopper is dumped. This is especially advantageous when a wet mixture, such as wet concrete, is dumped from the hopper 13, as thislis very liable to stick in any angles or corners that exist in the hopper.

It will also be noted that the hopper has a substantially straight 'upper edge 23, the

upper edge of the members 18 and the end portions ,19 and 20 being substantially in the same horizontal plane when the'ho'pper is in the load carrying position shown in Fig. 1. This is advantageous when a liquid or semi-liquid material is carried in the hopper thus preventing spilling of the same. The hopper is of such roportion that when the same is fully loaded it will roll automatieally from the position shown in Fig, 1 to the dumpin position down the inclined portions 9 'o the rails-and pivot on thepins I6,-thus complete'lIy dumpingv the contents of the ho per 13. he hopper will also automatica ly discharge the contents thereof in the same manner, even though only partially filled, as would be the case when filled with a wet concrete mixture that would completely fill the hopper before the water is added thereto. When this is done the hopper .only filled to such an extent that the contents will not spill.

In order to hold the hopper firmly in its load carrying position the brackets 24, having the portions 25 against which the forward end portions 19 of the hopper may rest, are provided. These cooperate with the straight portions of the rails 6 and the fiat bottom portions 17 of the hopper to brace the same in its load carrying position. However, locking means have to be provided to prevent the hopper from rolling down the inclined runway to the discharge position. The locking means used may comprise abail 26 pivotally mounted in the rails 6 in any suitable manner and having a horizontally extending portion 27 that is adapted to engage with the hook members 28 mounted in any suitable manner on the forward end portion 19 of the hopper, the portions 27 o the bail resting in a groove or recess 29 in the hook members 28.

In order to guard against any possible disengagement of the hooks 28 and bail 27, due to jarring of the vehicle when traveling over the roads, a locking lever 30 is provided. The locking lever 30 is mounted centrally of the forward end portion 19 being pivotallymounted' between a pair of ears 31 on said forward end portion. 19 and having a hook portion 32 provided with a recess 33 to receive the portion 27 of the bail. The locking lever 30 is provided with an operating handle portion 31 and with :1 rearwardly extending portion 35 that is adapted to engage the forward end wall 19 of the hopper'to inn-1t the downward movement of said lever. Between the extension 35 and the socket or recess 33 the lever is provided with a cam face 36 that cooperates with the 1 portion 27 of the bail to lift the same out of "In order to limit the swinging movement of the hopper toward dumping position the flexible member 37 provided withthe yieldable connection member 38 is employed, the flexible member 37 being securedto the hopper in any suitable manner as by the eye 89, and the yieldable memb'er 38 being secured to the runway in any suitable manner as to the cars 40 as shown in Fig. 1. Secured to the rear end wall of thehopper is the yieldablc member 41 and attached thereto the flexible member 42-which is suitably secured to the runway. The members 41 and 12 are of such a length that in the normal position of the hopper the spring 43'ofthe flexible member 41 is under tension, therefore' when the bail member 25.1is released from the hooks 28 by raising the locking' lined. p

In order to dislodge the wet concrete II11X- ture from the hopper it is necessary that the hopper dump fast enough that the upper portion of the material does not slide off first and discharge part of the load only. In

' the present invention the hopper rolls rapidly to discharge position and the stop chains are suddenly drawn tautas the hopper goes through its final pivotal movement, 7

checking the movement of the hopper with a sudden impact dislodging the entire load at once'. The entire discharge movement of the hopper may thus be described as comarisin a rollin movement on the runwa followed by a pivoted movement about the pivot hooks and terminating in a final impact that discharges the load.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by U. S. Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a runway and a rear dumping hopper adapted to roll on said runway from charge carrying to discharge position, said hopper comprising a flat base portion and straight inclined end wall joined to said base portion by portions having a smooth, gradual curvature to avoid all. sharp corners in said hopper, the rear end wall ofsaid hopper being relatively long and being inclined substantially at an angle of A5 degrees to said bottom portion, said hopper being so constructed that the same has a progressively increasing tendency when fully loaded and when only partially loaded to roll substantially automatically from charge carrying to discharge position.

2. A device of the character described comprising a runway, a hopper adapted to roll on said runway, a hook member extending from one wall of said hopper, a bail mem- 'ber supported by said; runway and adapted to engage said hook member to maintain the hopper'in normal position, and a locking lever pivoted on said hopper adapted to engage said bail to lock said -bail in hopper holding position. i

3. A i device of the character described comprising a runway, a hopper adapted to roll on said runway, a hook member extend- .ing from one wall of said hopper, a bail 'member supported by said runway and [adapted to engage said hook member to maintain the hopper in normal. position, and a locking'lever pivoted on said hopper adapted to engage said bail to lock said bail in hopper holding position, said locking lever being adapted todisengage said hail .from said hook, when moved to unlocking position.

4 A ClQVlCB. of the character described comprising a runway, a; hopper adapted to roll on said runway, a hook member extend 'lng from one wall of said hopper, a bail member supported by said runway and adapted to engage said hook member to maintain'the hopper innormal position, and a locking'lever adaptedto engage said bail to lock said bail in hopper holding position, said locking lever being provided with a camportion adapted to engage said bail and release the samefrom said hook, when said leveris moved to unlocking position.

5. A device 'o'f the character described comprising a runway, a hopper adapted to roll on said runway, a hook'member extending from one wall of said'hopper, a bail "membersupported by said runway and adapted to engage said hook member to "maintainthe hopper in normal position, and

a locking lever adapted to engage said bail to lock said bail in hopper holding position, said locking lever having a hook portion to engage said bail and a cam portion adapted to engage said bail to release the same from said first mentioned hook, when said lever is moved to unlocking position.

6. A device of the character described comprising a runway, and a one way dumping hopper adapted to roll on said runway, said hopper comprising a short substantially flat bottom portion upon which said hopper is adapted to rest in load carrying position, front and rear end walls and side walls having their top edge portions lying substan tially in a horizontal plane when said hop per is in load carrying position, said front end wall being slightly inclined to the vertical and said rear end wall being inclined at a much greater angle to the vertical providing a long rearwardly overhanging tapering nose portion, the proportion of said nose portion to the remainder of said hopper be --i.:. su 'tha i er arers gressive y increasing tendengy? both when fully and when onlypartiallyloade to, roll substantially automa ti cal yi iom l9 c rry- 7. A device of the character comprising anvehiele framework, said; frgmework being provided with .a .snbs1nnt1a1ly flat p t ynwsngmom mounted on said framew tkt 81m alon which hopperas H tedntom Said upper having .a substant y flat bottom portion conforming tasaid etsiipppr and resting thereon in normaiload car ying pOSltlOIl and straight inclined endwailaene of Saul end walls ma i id a with means adapted to cooperate .with an nchned rtion of said runway, and aflexnble, y g member connected to said frameworlgand to said hopper, said hop slicing so constructed that thesame w have, a progressively Increases t wara ub t tlally automatically from load, ,car "ng to d scharge position both when c when part ally loaded, nsjbg samermllsztoward the discharge end oise d. runway :said limiting member being adapted to checlrsthe discharge movement of said, u 9' with .a sudden impact to discharg contents thereof in a body.

8. A device of the character th comprising a vehicle frameworhsaldfiamework being providedwith arsnbstentially flat support, a. one-way .dumping.- r mounted onsaidframeworhaxun a al which saidhopper is adapted to l, sai hopper having a suhstanti y fiat bottom portion conforming to said, at snppprtmd resting he n in normal lead sa ry s P iaeae :sition and straight inclined end walls, one of said endwallsbeing provided with means adapted to cooperate with an inclined portion of said runway, cooperating. pivot members on said hopper and said runway, and a "flexible limiting member connected to said 7 framework and to said hopper, said hopper being so constructed that the same will have a rogressively increasing tendency to roll v sugetantially automatically from load can ing to ,discha e position, as the same r0 5 toward the f ischarge end of said runway bo h when fullycand when partially loaded, said rolling movement terminating in a pivwotal movement about said pivot members and said limit' member being adapted to check the ivota movement of said hopper with a sudilen impact to dislodge the contents thereof so that the same will be discharged in a bod 9. A device o the character described com risinga vehicle framework, said frame- .wor being provided witha substantially flat support, a; one-way dumping hopper mounted on said framework and a runway along which said hopper is-adapted to roll, said hopper having a short substantially 1 flat portion conforming to said support and resting thereon in normal load carrying po- Sition and having aortion adapted to cooperate with. an inc ined portion on said runway whenlsaid hop r rolls to discharge position, said hopper being so constructed at same has a progressively increasing tendency both when fully loaded and when partially loaded to roll substantially automatically from load carrying to discharge positionto discharge the contents of said hopper therefrom as one mass.

Inwitness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 16th day ofJul A. D. 1920.

, ALBER P. LEE. 

